FUE Hair Transplant

FUE hair transplant surgery has been around in some form since Dr. Ray Woods first brought it to market in 1988. The true history of FUE hair transplant surgery extends even further back in time to the 1930’s in Japan where Dr. Okuda used punches as small as 1 mm to harvest hair for eyebrow reconstruction. This was long before the “plug” surgeries of the 1960’s to 1980’s came into existence and was a much more refined hair transplant procedure. Unfortunately, this approach to hair restoration by Dr. Okuda was nearly lost as it’s existence was overshadowed by the events of World War II.

FUE hair transplant surgery today is much different than in the past but the principal remains the same. A small punch is used to isolate and score a grouping of hair that is to be extracted and eventually transplanted into an area of need. Today there are various tools used to accomplish this task.

Motorized FUE punch – This is a tool that has an electric micro-motor that spins or oscillates a sharp or dull punch in a manner that is supposed to mimic the rotation of the human hand. There are many different models on the market for FUE hair transplant surgery with variations of each model. These are typically used in clinics that may be fairly new to the industry but some more experienced clinics will use them as well.

Automated motorized FUE punch systems – These FUE hair transplant surgery systems are more than just a motorized punch as they will also incorporate a system for removal of a follicular unit after it has been scored. This usually involves a vacuum suction system that sucks the follicular unit through a series of tubes into a holding reservoir. These systems are used by amateur clinics or clinics that employ technicians that travel from clinic to clinic on a contractual basis. These clinics will also typically perform other forms of cosmetic surgery.

Robotic FUE – Robotic FUE hair transplant surgery systems remove most of the human element out of the equation and have the highest number of limitations that prevent them from being comprehensive solutions. You will find robotic FUE systems in clinics that typically have little to no prior FUE experience and may even perform other forms of cosmetic surgery.

Manual punch – The use of a hand held manual punch is the least common approach found in FUE hair transplant clinics worldwide. It requires a high degree of concentration and skill but the advantage is that tactile feedback is received from the punch handle to the hand of the operator. This allows the operator to adjust the angle and direction of approach on the fly. This helps to reduce the amount of transection of the follicular units in vitro which in turns means a higher overall yield for the final result as well as a more pristine donor zone without the “devil’s halo” that can seen from high rates of peripheral donor transection.

There are also two types of clinics that you will encounter during your FUE hair transplant surgery research. Doctor only FUE clinics are clinics where the doctor performs the FUE procedure and technicians are only employed for the placement aspect of the procedure.

Technician clinics are FUE clinics where technicians, not your doctor, will perform the majority of the procedure including the most important part of the surgery, the scoring and extraction. In many clinics the doctor will only be present to draw a hairline and the technicians perform 100% of the surgery itself.

Dr. Emorane Lupanzula is one of the few FUE hair transplant doctors worldwide that insists on using manual FUE extraction himself, without the use of unlicensed technicians. The technicians at Medikemos Hair Restoration are highly trained for the duties they perform but they are not trained for actual medical procedures that involve cutting the skin as this would be considered medically inappropriate. Dr. Lupanzula makes all incisions into the donor scalp, scores all the grafts, and removes each graft himself. He also makes all incisions into the recipient scalp where the technicians are tasked with filling these incisions with the carefully trimmed and prepared follicular units.

Dr. Lupanzula insists on this level of doctor involvement because he believes that to have a strong level of interaction on this level is the ethical requirement of being a doctor. Dr. Lupanzula also recognizes that you are coming to Medikemos Hair Restoration because of the results you have seen on our website or elsewhere on the internet and so he does not feel that his name should go onto a result that he did not personally work on. He is responsible for each and every patient and their respective results and to leave such a massive responsibility to unlicensed technicians would be irresponsible, unethical and careless. Dr. Lupanzula is proud of the results his clinic produces and he knows that the consistency he is known for cannot be maintained by taking shortcuts.

Dr. Lupanzula uses a variety of sharp and semi-sharp punches from .7mm in diameter to .9mm in diameter. This variation allows Dr. Lupanzula to customize each procedure for the characteristics of each patient. Dr. Lupanzula has over ten years of experience performing FUE by hand and is recognized as one of the best FUE hair transplant surgeons worldwide. We know that it is an easy thing to say but we feel that our results can justify such a claim.

The benefits of FUE hair restoration are obvious in that it affords the option of having shorter hairstyles than previous hair restoration methods and the recovery is quick and easy. Most patients can return to their normal routine and to work in only a few days after their Medikemos hair restoration procedure.